Hieun tsang, the celebrated Buddhist pilgrim who is said to have visited the valley in 633 A.D mentions Pan-nu-tso, i.e., modern day Punch, Ho-lo-she-pu-to i.e. modern day Rajauri. He entered India from Udabhanda, Urasa (present Muzafrabad and Uskara) entered the valley via Baramula gorge.[4]

The term Shahi is the title of the rulers, likely related to the Kushan form Shao[6] or Persian form Shah and refers to a series of 60 rulers probably descended from the Kushans or Turks (Turshkas).[6]

The capital of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir, is situated at the confluence of the Jhelum and Neelum rivers. It is 138 km from Rawalpindi and about 76 km from Abbottabad. The present name of Muzaffarabad has been given to it after the name of Sultan Muzaffar Khan, a chief of Bomba Dynasty (1652). There are two forts, namely, Red and Black Fort, situated on the opposite sides of river Neelum. The Neelum river streams through the town, joins the river Jhelum at Domel and plays a dominant role in the micro-climate of Muzaffarabad.[8][not in citation given]

The city was the site of the epicenter of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, which occurred on October 8, 2005 and had a magnitude of 7.6. The disaster destroyed 50% of the buildings in the city (including most of the official buildings) and is estimated to have killed up to 80,000 people in the Pakistani-controlled areas of Kashmir.

As of 8 November 2005 the Pakistani government's official death toll was 87,350. Some estimates put the death toll over 100,000.[10]

Pakistani Soldiers carry tents away from a U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter that was there on October 19. The United States took part in the multinational effort to provide humanitarian assistance and support to Pakistan and Afghanistan following the devastating October 8 earthquake.

Heavy snowfall in the region around the epicentre, shown here in a January 6, 2006 NASA satellite image, hampered the relief efforts which began shortly after the earthquake struck.